10.14.2014

As promised in yesterday's post here on MTG Realm, we are going to touch on the recent Pro Tour Khans of Tarkir tournament in Honolulu, Hawaii to take a measure of which way the standard metagame is shaping up. We'll suggest that most Magic: the Gathering players participating at their local gaming gaming store's Friday Night Magic event would have an interest in these results. At our LGS, OMG! Games, here in Barrie, Ontario we've already seen a number of similar builds to that which placed Top 8 in Honolulu. You can pop on over to the mothersite here to get last weekend's coverage.

Listed below are 15 deck 'archetypes' and a short description as provided by Wizards in the linky above for those players which earned 21 points or better during the PT KTK event -

Abzan Aggro - 2 decksThis more aggressive take on Abzan often forgoes Sylvan Caryatid and Courser of Kruphix for more aggressively-minded creatures, such as Rakshasa Deathdealer and Herald of Torment, trying to put opponents off balance with some of the strongest creatures at every point in the curve. Abzan Midrange - 12 decksThis Sylvan Caryatid/Courser of Kruphix deck is packed full of value and individually powerful spells, trying to jam many of the format's best cards into the same 75-card decklist.

Blue-Black Control - 5 decksA pure control strategy, this two-color deck wants to remove all of the opponent's threats one-by-one, pulling ahead on cards with Dig Through Time and Jace's Ingenuity. Perilous Vault is the sweeper of choice, and can reset virtually any board to the control player's favor.

Black-Green Devotion - 2 decksThese green-based devotion decks try to take advantage of all of the mana that can be generated by Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. There is often a small constellation sub-theme, with black helping out via removal.

Esper Control - 1 deckEsper Control utilizes almost all of the most powerful control spells the format has to offer, going into white for End Hostilities and some forms of life-gain. Resolute Archangel and Nyx-Fleece Ram keep your life total high.

Jeskai Ascendancy Combo - 2 decksThe format's only true combo deck, Jeskai Ascendancy uses its namesake card along with creatures that make mana to churn through its deck, casting spell after spell before ultimately killing with a large attacking creature, decking from Altar of the Brood, or any number of ways. Retraction Helix and a zero-cost spell make the combo repeatable as many times as necessary. Jeskai Wins (Jeskai Tempo) - 15 decksUsing a significant compliment of burn spells and hard-hitting creatures, Jeskai Wins often ends the game in a flurry of damage. It's also capable of adapting a controlling role on occasion if the situation calls for it.

Mardu Midrange - 1 deckThis midrange deck generates most of its value from its Planeswalkers, then uses a suite of removal and disruption to keep the opponent off-balance while the Planeswalkers and efficient, frightening creatures do their work.

Mardu Planeswalkers - 1 deckThis midrange deck generates most of its value from its Planeswalkers, then uses a suite of removal and disruption to keep the opponent off-balance while the Planeswalkers do their work.

Naya Midrange - 1 deckThis midrange deck generates most of its value from its Planeswalkers, accelerating them out with green mana creatures like Sylvan Caryatid. Some of the format's strongest creatures let the deck also go big.

Red-Green Monsters - 1 deckThe deck uses mana acceleration to quickly pump out some of the biggest, scariest creatures in the format, helped out by a few of the biggest, scariest Planeswalkers in the Multiverse.

Red-White Tokens - 2 decksHordeling Outburst and Goblin Rabblemaster team up with Monastery Swiftspear and a large helping of burn to quickly drop the opponent to zero.

Temur Monsters - 1 deckThe deck uses mana acceleration to quickly pump out some of the biggest, scariest creatures in the format.

Unwritten Devotion - 2 decksThis green and black devotion deck utilizes Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx to make a ton of mana, supports a constellation sub-theme, AND goes for the big score with See the Unwritten. ~